Some silence passed as Bjorn thought about how to tell me about the Mountain Men. When he finally came out with it, my nerves were completely shot. The suspense was the only thing keeping me going; forcing back the idea of Bellamy into the back of my mind to ease my pain.
“We know little about the Mountain Men.” He admitted. “They hide up on Mount Weather, rarely coming down to trifle with the likes of us, or the Reapers. They are dangerous, they care nothing for the well-being of others, only to snatch up our young and we never see them return.”
“Are they like us?”
“In stature, yes. Smaller than me, though.” Bjorn said, though he was a very large person to begin with.
“Why do you fear them?”
“As I said, they take some of us, and do not return.” He said, “They have weapons… Unimaginable weapons. Similar to those that you had.”
“Guns?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe they are survivors from the Cataclysm…” I began, “Well, of course they are. But maybe they have supplies like they do on the Arc, medicine and, and… We should go to them, I can tell them who we are, they might accept us.”
“They took your people.”
“You don’t know that…”
“I do.” He said, “Just as they have taken my people.”
“Tell me about the woman you spoke of before.” I changed the subject, though I still had hope that these Mountain Men were humane folk like those on the Arc.
“No.” Bjorn had said enough, or at least more than he wanted to.
“Bjorn…” I needed distraction. Though I had hope that Bellamy was still alive on Mount Weather, it was a small fraction of hope in a world that had drained me everything.
“I found her body, face down in the calm water of the river.” He told me, “The river ran red as her body bumped against the large rocks, trying to move down the current. I still have no idea what happened to her, nor will I ever.”
“What was her name?”
“Sonja.”
“That is a beautiful name.” I smiled, though I knew that my words would not bring her back or ease his pain.
We arrived back where Lincoln and Octavia were; the brunette was asleep in the Grounders arms, her leg wound wrapped. Lincoln met eyes with Bjorn and then cast them back down to Octavia. Brushing her fringe out of her eyes, he gently woke her, though no smile touched his lips when she smiled up at him. As he assisted her up, she glanced at me and widened her already large orb.
“Bell…?” Her voice shook when she spoke.
“I have no idea.” I admitted, “They are all gone.”
“Gone…” She echoed sadly. A spark lit in her eyes then, “We saw the Arc.”
“What?”
“The Arc, it was coming down from the sky.”
“That’s impossible…”
Lincoln shook his head, “Much of it burst in the atmosphere, but there was a portion that landed.”
“We should go find it, help any survivors, and maybe… Maybe they can help us find the others.”
I had to admit, it was better than my plan of going to chat with the Mountain Men that even the Grounders feared. They had been the reason Lincoln meant to bail. Bjorn had clarified that they had taken the others; our friends that we had fought to protect. After all the preparation for war, it was all for naught.
“Then we find the Arc, or what is left of it.” I said, though I wondered how the Arc had made it here, and how anyone could have survived that. It was meant to be a home away from home, not a drop ship to bring us back. Perhaps it was their answer to the Exodus ship blowing up on Earth. Not a safe or smart idea, but if it worked, then it would bring much good to us.
“We continue East.” Lincoln said, “It’s the safest route.”
“We have nothing; how are we supposed to survive a hundred and twenty mile trek to the ocean, on the brink of winter?”
“She’s right; her people may have supplies.” Bjorn agreed.
“Her people might kill us.” Lincoln argued.
“They aren’t MY people!” I shouted suddenly, “I’m tired of being separated into groups because of where I have come from. We are ALL people. And we sure as hell all belong on Earth.”
“Do you think your peo- they might help us?” Lincoln asked.
“I don’t know.” I looked to Octavia for some help. “I don’t know who made it down.”
“They don’t know a thing about Earth; everything we thought turned out wrong.” Octavia added, “We have to help them, and in return, they can help us.”
A sigh came from a few lips, and a silence veiled us for a moment.
“It landed on the Southern edge of the Mountain.” Lincoln said.
“Let’s go.” I said.
“You get some rest.” Bjorn said to me, “We all need rest.”
---
At first light we grabbed anything we would need for the trek; food, weapons and water. Octavia was able to walk for a good period of time, only resting on Lincoln as her leg wound began to take its toll on her. Lincoln was in the front when I found myself walking alongside Bellamy’s younger sister, Bjorn was a ways back. With everyone out of ear shot, Octavia struck up conversation.
“What was the camp like…?” She asked desperately.
“Burnt bodies everywhere…” I said, remembering the smell more than anything. “Raven’s lift off worked well enough, but there was no sign of anyone… I don’t know who made it in or who didn’t.”
“Where would they go?” She asked.
“Bjorn said the Mountain Men took them.” I said, “I don’t really know what that means.”
“Lincoln was going to leave because of them…” She said, “If they have Bellamy… we have to…” She trailed off then.
“We might be four against the world, but I won’t give up on Bellamy.” I told Octavia with a burst of confidence in my voice, “Whoever is in that Arc… They can help us.”
“But will they?” Octavia questioned.
Truth was, we had no idea if there were any survivors, and who had been sent down. Since we had lost contact with the Arc, we had no idea what had happened up there since the Exodus ship was launched. All contact had been cut off. Not only did they have no idea what we were facing down here on Earth, we had no idea what they were dealing with up there. And there was only one way to find out; finding the survivors.
So, I have written up to chapter 68, and I will probably finish the whole story either today or tomorrow. I have decided that I will be writing a Marvel Universe story after this! It will be more comedy/action/romance (like all the Marvel films) and less drama. I am taking on five people to be in the story, so if any of your are interested, let me know! Two spots are already filled!